Hybrid Cloud vs. Multi Cloud – What are the Differences?

Consequently, the question arises as to which model is the objectively better choice for a company in a direct comparison of hybrid cloud vs. multi cloud. The simple answer: it depends. In this article, we have broken down what is decisive, what distinguishes the individual cloud infrastructures and what strengths and weaknesses they each have in detail.

What is a Hybrid Cloud? 

A hybrid cloud is a combination of private and public cloud infrastructure. The private cloud contains the exclusive data of a single customer and is often hosted in-house (on-premise), but can also be operated by an external service provider on behalf of the customer.

In contrast, public clouds are where companies purchase computing resources provided by commercial cloud providers. These are “public” in the sense that theoretically any customer can buy in and use their own resources, which is not typically the case with a company's own cloud.

What is a Multi Cloud? 

A multi cloud is a combination of two or more public cloud infrastructures that are used together in a company. Such an environment can be created very quickly if, for example, companies use several software cloud services from different providers (Microsoft Azure / AWS etc.).

In addition, companies often use a multi cloud strategy to pursue a “best of breed” approach, in which the ideal (cloud) service for the respective use case is specifically purchased instead of relying on a single provider. 

For example, particularly powerful cloud instances are used for IaaS or PaaS services to reduce the workload for in-house IT and to be able to offer users very low latency for certain services, for example.

Hybrid Cloud vs. Multi Cloud – The Differences

We have listed an overview of all the most important differences between these two cloud variants here:

Architecture of the Cloud Environment

Hybrid cloud and multi cloud approaches differ primarily in the composition of their respective cloud infrastructures. A hybrid cloud environment refers to a combination of public and private clouds, i.e. different cloud types. 

A multi cloud environment, on the other hand, is a combination of several public clouds that are provided by different providers. This means that all computing resources are purchased and not provided in-house.

Cloud Management / Complexity

To use cloud services in a value-adding way, it is important to ensure a seamless connection to your own systems and processes. In the case of hybrid cloud environments, it is also necessary to clarify which resources should remain on the private instance and which should be outsourced. However, this system can be helpful for securing sensitive data in a separate, company-owned cloud environment.

The more different cloud services a company uses, the more complex their management becomes. Integrating and managing all these cloud environments across different platforms can be very time-consuming and costly, especially for SMEs. Depending on the number of cloud services and the extent of use, this can even make such an IT infrastructure unprofitable. 

Flexibility / Scalability

The hybrid cloud offers a high degree of flexibility, as workloads can be moved dynamically between the private and public cloud. Particularly sensitive data remains in the private cloud, while public resources are used for peak loads. At least the public part of the cloud is very easily scalable, whereas this is usually only true to a limited extent for the private cloud.

With a mult cloud, companies select the cloud environments that are best suited to their respective requirements according to the “best of breed” approach, for example, and the available resources are almost unlimited, depending on the contract. And if another provider offers better performance, it is usually possible to switch to a new cloud service at short notice.

Security / Compliance

Due to the fact that a hybrid cloud by definition comprises a private cloud environment, companies have full control over the security of their data at this point, which is particularly relevant for very sensitive information. At the same time, it must be ensured that all compliance requirements are met when exchanging data between the two cloud environments.

A multi cloud environment is not necessarily insecure, but the respective security standards and regulations must be evaluated and coordinated accordingly from provider to provider. This can be done using certificates such as ISO 27001 certification. For a uniform compliance level, it may be necessary to carry out additional checks and, if necessary, adjust the type of data exchange and other processes.

Prices / Total Costs

If companies opt for a hybrid cloud solution, the initial costs are usually significantly higher - especially if on-premise provision with their own servers or an entire data center is planned. At the same time, there are recurring costs for the ongoing maintenance, servicing and updating of the company's own IT infrastructure.

A multi-cloud environment can be significantly more cost-effective, as companies have the freedom to add or remove computing resources as required. Services are billed as they are used. At the same time, companies must ensure that the total costs do not get out of hand unnoticed when many cloud services are used in parallel.

Advantages & Disadvantages of the Cloud Models 

Having already discussed the most important differences between the two cloud infrastructures, here we summarize the most important advantages and disadvantages of hybrid cloud and multi cloud once again.

Advantages of a Hybrid Cloud Environment

• Strong Cloud Security and strict data control secure sensitive information in the private part of the cloud infrastructure to meet compliance requirements.
• Peak loads are easily absorbed via public cloud services - for example regarding computing resources (cloud bursting).
• Solid scalability of public cloud services as required.
• Simple outsourcing of less critical processes and applications to the public cloud.

Disadvantages of a Hybrid Cloud Environment

• Strong provider dependency because every public cloud must be compatible with your own private cloud environment (vendor lock-in)
• High investment costs for on-premise solutions, own IT infrastructure and ongoing costs for operation and maintenance.
• Higher planning and integration costs, especially regarding (secure) data transfers between multiple clouds.

Advantages of a Multi Cloud Environment

• No vendor lock-in and the freedom to flexibly switch to different providers when it makes sense for the company.
• High scalability thanks to the ability to flexibly book computing resources from providers at almost any time.
• Good reliability thanks to appropriate measures taken by cloud providers (multiple data centers / redundancies / failover clusters, etc.)
• Lower costs, as only the service is purchased without having to buy expensive server hardware. Maintenance costs are also eliminated.

Disadvantages of a Multi Cloud Environment

• High administrative costs resulting from the coordination of many different cloud environments.
• Low cost transparency due to the large number of cloud services, each with their own tariff models, terms and conditions.
• Possible security risks due to the potentially complex integration and interconnection of multiple cloud services.

Can a Hybrid Cloud also be a Multi Cloud?

Yes, a hybrid cloud infrastructure can include your own private cloud and several public cloud services from various providers. This combination therefore meets the definition of a multi cloud. 

Which Cloud is the Right Choice for Companies? - Important Criteria

Deciding on a specific form of cloud provision can be of key importance for companies. When comparing multi cloud and hybrid cloud, the following criteria should therefore be considered in particular.

Requirements for Cloud Environments

Ideally, there should already be a clear idea of exactly what requirements the cloud services should fulfill. Which workloads are likely to be outsourced to the cloud? 

How important is the scalability of the environment? Are there any special performance requirements? The more precisely use cases and goals can be defined, the easier it will be to select the right cloud environment.

Security / Data Protection

If explicitly strict data protection regulations apply to certain data - for example due to the industry (finance / medicine) - it may make sense for companies to process this data and processes in a private cloud and integrate a public cloud service into the IT infrastructure for less critical applications.

The less strict the compliance guidelines are, the easier it is for companies to pursue pure multi cloud strategies. Nevertheless, it is important to ensure that important data protection requirements are adhered to and, depending on the provider, can be proven, for example through appropriate certifications and documentation.

IT Capacities & Resources

Multi cloud environments are often the first choice for companies that rely on a high degree of scalability of their computing resources. At the same time, it is important to evaluate how quickly these additional resources actually need to be available. If a company already has its own in-house cloud solution, for example, this can be supplemented with a public cloud as a first step and then gradually expanded as required.

Budgets / Costs

If companies only have a limited budget available, the acquisition and integration of a private cloud environment for a hybrid cloud setup can be an extremely costly investment. 

If there is no urgent need for this, it often makes more sense to use individual cloud services in a multi cloud environment and pay precisely for the service and performance that meets your own requirements.

Needs-based Cloud Solutions with GFOS

In the day-to-day business of companies, there are good arguments for both hybrid cloud environments and pure multi cloud models. The decisive factor is ultimately the exact purpose. If you would also like to rely more heavily on cloud services in the future, we recommend our GFOS knownCloud for this step. 

This can be used for both hybrid cloud and multi cloud solutions, has ISO 27001 certification, is hosted entirely in Germany and offers 99.6% high availability for all your applications, services and data. We would be happy to advise you individually on the ideal integration into your systems and processes - just get in touch.